Frostproof sanitary drinking fountain



United States Patent inventors Joseph K. Murdock;

Eugene J Riddle, Cincinnati, Ohio Appl. No. 778,616 Filed Nov. 25, 1968 Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Assignee Murdock lnc.

Cincinnati, Ohio a corporation of Ohio FROSTPROOF SANITARY DRINKING FOUNTAIN 6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,667,889 2/1954 Murdock et a]. 137/284 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church Attorney-Pearce and Schaeperklaus ABSTRACT: A frostproof fountain which includes a riser, a reservoir for receiving water from the riser, and air vent line connected to the reservoir, a nozzle for directing liquid into a lower end of the riser, there being a port connecting the nozzle with the interior of the reservoir so that when liquid is directed through the nozzle, liquid in the reservoir is withdrawn therefrom. A float is mounted in the reservoir, and means on the float engages an end of the port to close the port when liquid in the reservoir is exhausted to prevent entry of air into the port. A dam surrounds a drain line to prevent entry of ground water.

Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Sheet FIG.

v lNVENT OR. JOSEPH KEL SO MURDOCK A D I l m EUGENE J. RIDDLE Attorneys Patented Nov. 17, 1970 3,540,654

Sheet g of 2 FIG. 6

INVEN JOSEPH KELSO M OCK ND EUGENEA J. RIDDLE Anorneys FROSTPROOF SANITARY DRINKING FOUNTAIN This invention relates to a sanitary frostproof fountain. More particularly, this invention relates to such a fountain in which riser water is stored below frost level in a reservoir.

An object of this invention is to provide such a fountain in which the reservoir is provided with an aspirator for removing water therefrom and in which an air vent prevents build-up of a vacuum in the reservoir.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a fountain in which a float in the reservoir closes the air vent when the water is removed from the reservoir so that air is not drawn into the water being discharged.

This invention provides improvements in a frostproof fountain of the type shown generally in Murdock et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,667,889. Briefly, this fountain includes a riser, a reservoir for receiving water from the riser, and an air vent line connected to the reservoir. A nozzle directs liquid into a lower end of the riser, there being a port connecting the nozzle with the interior of the reservoir so that when liquid is directed through the nozzle, liquid in the reservoir is withdrawn therefrom. A float is mounted in the reservoir, and means on the float engages an end of the port to close the port when liquid in the reservoir is exhausted to prevent entry of air into the port. A dam surrounds a drain line to prevent entry of ground water.

The above and other features and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in upright section of a frostproof sanitary fountain constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a bowl of the fountain illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in section taken on the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in section taken generally on the line 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view in upright section on an enlarged scale of an operating valve which is a part of the fountain;

FIG. 6 is a view in upright section on an enlarged scale of an aspirator section of the hydrant;

FIG. 7 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 7-7 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a view in section taken on the line 8-8 in FIG. 6.

In the following detailed description and the drawings, like reference characters indicate like parts.

In FIG. 1 is shown a frostproof sanitary fountain 10 constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention. The fountain 10 includes a hollow body 12, which extends upwardly from a ground plate 13, at substantially the level of the ground 14 and a downwardly extending main housing 15 which is received in the ground. A tubular main valve casing 16 extends downwardly from the ground plate 13 into the ground adjacent the main housing. A shutoff valve housing 17 also extends downwardly into the ground adjacent the main housing 15. Water from a main 18 can pass through a shutoff valve 19 at the bottom of the shutoff valve housing 17 into a supply line 21. The shutoff valve 19 is operated by an upright valve rod'22, which extends substantially the length of the shutoff valve housing 17 and carries an operating head 23 at its upper end. A slot 24 in the head 23 can receive a key (not shown) for turning the shutoff valve 19.

From the shutoff valve 19, water passes through the supply line 21 to a main valve housing 27 through a valve guide housing 28. A spider 29 (FIG. 5) in the valve guide housing 28 guides a lower valve stem 30 of a vertically moving valve member 31. An upper stem 32 of the valve member 31 is received in a socket 33 in a lower end ofa lower valve operating rod section 34. An upper valve operating rod section 36 is attached to the lower section 34 by means of a threaded end portion 37 of the upper section which is received in a threaded socket 38 of the lower section. A cap 39 (FIG. 1) mounted on the upper end of the upper section 36 can be pushed downwardly by means of a foot pedal 41 which is pivotally mounted on the body 12 of the fountain 10 by means of a pivot 43 (FIG. 3).

The cap 39 and the valve operating rod sections 34 and 36 are urged upwardly by a compression spring 44 -(FIG. 1) which surrounds the upper rod section 36 and is seated on lugs 46 which are formed in a tube 47 which surrounds the spring 44. Stop screws 48 mounted in a downwardly extending skirt of the cap 39 run in upright slots 51 in an upwardly extending collar 52 of the ground plate 13 to limit upward and downward movement of the cap 39. The lower end of the tube 47 tests on a valve seat member 53 which is mounted inside the main valve housing 27 and inside a lower end portion of the tubular main valve casing 16. The casing 16 extends from the main valve housing 27 to the underside of the ground plate 13, underlying the collar 52 to surround the valve operating rod sections and to keep ground water from the interior of the main valve housing 27.

The lower end portion of the lower rod section 34 (FIG. 5) is slidably mounted inside the valve seat member 53. A transverse pin 58, mounted in the lower rod section 34 is slidable in an upright slot 59 in the upper stem 32 and, when the rod sections 36 and 34 are depressed, the pin 58 engages the lower end of the slot 59 to move the valve member 31 downwardly to open the valve. A seal between the lower rod section 34 and the valve seat member 53 is formed by packing 61 in a packing box 62. The packing is compressed by a gland 63 which is urged downwardly by a spring 64. The spring 64 is compressed when the rod sections 34 and 36 are depressed so that there is increased pressure on the packing when the valve member 31 is open.

When the valve member 31 is open, water flows through channels 66 and 67 in the valve seat member into a conduit 68 which directs the water into the lower end of a nozzle 69 from which the water is directed upwardly through a riser 71. The riser 71 discharged through a nozzle 72 (FIGS. 1 and 4) above a bowl 73. Waste water from the bowl 73 is received by a waste line 74 which extends downwardly from the bowl.

As shown in FIG. 6, the nozzle 69 is located inside a reservoir chamber 76 which is located below frost level. When the flow of water through the nozzle 69 ceases, water in the riser 71 flows downwardly through ports or conduits 77 in a housing 78 surrounding the nozzle 69 into the reservoir 76. Air in the reservoir is discharged through an air vent line 79 which opens to.the outside at 79 adjacent the bowl 73 (FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 6, a float 80 is disposed in the reservoir 76. The float 80 is of hollow annular shape and rises with the water in the reservoir from the FIG. 6 position to the FIG. 1 position as riser water fills the reservoir. The float is guided by a riser portion 81 inside the reservoir. Annular bearing rings 82 mounted on the inside of the float adjacent the riser portion 81 guide the float.-When the valve member 31 is opened and water again flows through the nozzle 69, the stored riser water is discharged from the reservoir and the float 80 sinks to the FIG. 6 position at which a resilient pad 84 mounted on the bottom of the float rests on the tops of upwardly directed discharge ends 85 of the ports 77 so that as additional water is directed upwardly through the nozzle after the reservoir has been emptied, air is not drawn down the air vent pipe 79. As shown in FIG. 8, there are four discharge ends arranged at degree intervals around the nozzle 69, each of which is located in an upstanding lug 85' (FIG. 8) mounted on the housing 78.

The reservoir 76 is mounted inside the main housing 15. The lower end of the housing 15 is closed by a fitting 87 (FIG. 1) through which the conduit 68 enters the lower end of the housing 15. The upper end of the housing 15 is attached to the hollow body 12 to close an opening 87 in the lower portion of the body. The .only other opening in the lower portion of the. body is an opening 89 (FIG. 7) through which the drain pipe 74 leaves theinterior of the body 12. An angle shaped dam 91 (FIGS. 1 and 7) is mounted in a corner of the body 12 surrounding the drain pipe 74 and extending upwardly from a closure plate portion 92 a substantial distance above the ground to prevent entry of ground water into the interior of the body 12 and the housing 15. The dam can extend approximately 1 foot upwardly from the ground level in a preferred embodiment.

When the pedal 41 is depressed to open the valve member 31, water passes upwardly through the nozzle 69 to withdraw water from the reservoir 76. Air enters the reservoir through the air vent line 79 until the water in the reservoir is exhausted, whereupon the float 80 rests on the outlets 85 (FIG. 6) of the passages 77 to prevent air being withdrawn from the reservoir by the effect of water passing through the nozzle 69. However, when the valve member 31 (FIG. 1) is closed upon release of the pedal 41 and the flow of water through the nozzle 69 stops, riser water enters the reservoir through the passages 77 (FIG. 6) to be stored in the reservoir 76 below frost level.

The fountain structure described above and illustrated in the drawings is subject to structural modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The combination of a fountain which includes a riser, a reservoir for receiving liquid from the riser, an air vent line connected to the reservoir, a nozzle for directing liquid into a lower end of the riser, there being a port connecting the nozzle with the interior of the reservoir so that when liquid is directed through the nozzle, liquid in the reservoir is withdrawn therefrom, with a float mounted in the reservoir and means on the float engageable with an end of the port to close the port when liquid in the reservoir is exhausted to prevent entry of air into the port.

2. A combination as in claim 1 wherein the riser extends upwardly through the reservoir and the float is annular and surrounds said portion of the riser to be guided thereby.

3. A combination as in claim 1 wherein a portion of the riser extends upwardly through the reservoir, the float is annular and surrounds said portion of the riser to be guided thereby, the port engaging means is an annular resilient member, and there are a plurality of ports surrounding the riser, each of the ports connecting the nozzle with the interior of the reservoir, he port engaging means resting on and closing ends of all the ports when liquid in the reservoir is exhausted.

4. A fountain which comprises a hollow body, means for mounting said body for extending upwardly from the ground, a casing attached to and in communication with the interior of the body and extending downwardly therefrom into the ground, the casing being closed at its lower end, a riser in the casing and body extending substantially the length thereof, means for introducing water under pressure into the lower end of the casing to enter the riser, a bowl mounted on the upper portion of the body, a nozzle overlying the bowl and receiving water from the riser, a drain pipe receiving waste water from the bowl, the drain pipe extending downwardly from the bowl inside the body, there being an opening in the body adjacent ground level through which the drain pipe extends, and a dam inside the body surrounding the opening and extending up-' wardly therefrom surrounding the drain pipe to prevent entry of ground water into the interior of the body.

5. A fountain as in claim 4 wherein the dam is of angle shape and edges of flanges of the darn are attached to the wall of the body.

6. A fountain as in claim 4 wherein the dam extends upwardly inside the body to approximately 1 foot above ground level. 

